Peru's Keiko Fujimori to be freed from prison during graft investigation

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FILE PHOTO: Peru's presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori casts her vote during presidential election, at a polling station at a classroom in Lima, Peru, April 10, 2016. REUTERS/Mariana Bazo/File Photo

LIMA (Reuters) - Former Peruvian presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori will be released from prison while she is under investigation for money laundering, her lawyer said on Thursday.

Peru’s supreme court accepted an appeal and ruled to revoke Fujimori’s 15-month jail sentence, according to her lawyer, Giulliana Loza.

Fujimori will be released with “restricted freedom,” meaning she cannot leave Lima without prior authorization and must appear every 30 days at a judicial registry office, Loza said.

Fujimori, the daughter of imprisoned former President Alberto Fujimori, has not been officially charged. Prosecutors accused her of taking money from Brazilian firm Odebrecht [ODBES.UL] to finance a presidential campaign while pretending it came from other sources.

In January, a judge ordered Fujumori’s detention as prosecutors continued their investigation. She had previously spent 13 months in jail.

Fujimori could be released after Friday, which is a public holiday, Loza told radio channel RPP.

“We hope to carry out the corresponding procedures post-holiday [Friday], complying with all the security protocols, especially bearing in mind that Keiko is within the vulnerable group for COVID-19,” Loza said, referring to the spread of coronavirus within Peru’s prisons.

The court also ruled to release from prison Susana Villaran, 70, the former mayor of the Peruvian capital Lima, who had been jailed over allegations of bribes from construction companies Odebrecht and OAS.